How to make a training log

rom · 21-12-2012 11:24am #1

I don't know if there would be any interest in this but I would be willing to give a little guide on how to make your own training log using google docs (of course). If there is some interest please respond on what you would like to be able to have in such a log. I would document in detail how to create your log, share it, generate graphs and more complex stuff like auto-update the 1000 mile challenge. It is a great tool to be able to compare and see your improvements or not visually and clearly. I would probably start with the most basic things for those who have never used google docs before and would give examples/screenshots of each step. Things like garmin connect are good but you don't have control if you want to put stuff in. There are then sites like fetch but full with ads and still is far from perfect.

Itziger · 21-12-2012 5:43pm

rom wrote: »

I don't know if there would be any interest in this but I would be willing to give a little guide on how to make your own training log using google docs (of course). If there is some interest please respond on what you would like to be able to have in such a log. I would document in detail how to create your log, share it, generate graphs and more complex stuff like auto-update the 1000 mile challenge. It is a great tool to be able to compare and see your improvements or not visually and clearly. I would probably start with the most basic things for those who have never used google docs before and would give examples/screenshots of each step. Things like garmin connect are good but you don't have control if you want to put stuff in. There are then sites like fetch but full with ads and still is far from perfect.

Would definitely be interested. Want to log the training a bit more seriously AND I want to learn about Google Docs. Win win situation!

PaulieYifter · 21-12-2012 7:57pm

Will it have lots of graphs?

martyboy48 · 21-12-2012 11:23pm

Fair play to ya rom, deffo interested in this. Once it's not to complicated or time consuming, I this it would be a great visual aid to see how you're doing

rom · 22-12-2012 2:07am

https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1Q8ctLSM4DsOuh_Fo9AH_CJ1HT9nXWWj0pDgWYew5Ufg

sconhome · 22-12-2012 8:32am

Rom, having used your previous sheet this season I think this is brilliant. It took me ages to figure out the formula and formatting in Google docs and in 5 mins reading you've explained what took me a week to work out.

Not to jump too far ahead, but would it work to include a drop down selection of multisport activities (listed elsewhere) and how would this work in the reports section for tracking totals?

rom · 22-12-2012 9:57am

amphkingwest wrote: »

Not to jump too far ahead, but would it work to include a drop down selection of multisport activities (listed elsewhere) and how would this work in the reports section for tracking totals?

Yes, very simply done. If you have any other idea's I'll add them to the list if they are of benefit to a few people.

Itziger · 22-12-2012 12:16pm

Rom, I'm getting a 'sparse error' message when I try to put in the Pace calculation in cell E2.

Any info appreciated.

rom · 22-12-2012 1:53pm

Itziger wrote: »

Rom, I'm getting a 'sparse error' message when I try to put in the Pace calculation in cell E2.

Any info appreciated.

Personally I don't want to go down the route of fixing each persons spreadsheet. So the best protocol for this is Make a copy of the spreadsheet so your original one is intact. Share the copy and make it publicly editable. post this link on here and someone will fix it or look at the error. When someone finds the problem then they will post on the thread what was wrong because it is probably something simple. There is also google docs forums that probably have the answer to the question.

Itziger · 22-12-2012 2:06pm

rom wrote: »

Personally I don't want to go down the route of fixing each persons spreadsheet. So the best protocol for this is Make a copy of the spreadsheet so your original one is intact. Share the copy and make it publicly editable. post this link on here and someone will fix it or look at the error. When someone finds the problem then they will post on the thread what was wrong because it is probably something simple. There is also google docs forums that probably have the answer to the question.

Fair enough, I'll try one of the above.

rom · 22-12-2012 3:48pm

Added :
Adding GPS links
Race History
Sharing the document
Revision History

next up Training Plan.

career_move · 22-12-2012 6:36pm

Hi rom thanks for this....spreadsheets for dummies. Would it be an idea to have a column for the shoes you wore for each run and also one for what your resting heart rate was that morning

http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2012/12/19/use-your-heart-rate-to-measure-overtraining/

rom · 22-12-2012 9:27pm

career_move wrote: »

Hi rom thanks for this....spreadsheets for dummies. Would it be an idea to have a column for the shoes you wore for each run and also one for what your resting heart rate was that morning

http://triathlete-europe.competitor.com/2012/12/19/use-your-heart-rate-to-measure-overtraining/

Personally in respect to recovery I think that there are more things than just resting HR that should be considered such as weight and other things. Think of similar to restwise.com and what they do. I put that on the end of the list and shoe mileage which I do in my log also. Just want to write things up leaving the more complex stuff to last and the stuff that will be used by more people first.

rom · 22-12-2012 9:29pm

PaulieYifter wrote: »

Will it have lots of graphs?

There will be a graph which will show how many graphs are in the doc over time

pconn062 · 22-12-2012 9:52pm

It's slightly disconcerting that I can't understand a word that's being said on this thread!

rom · 22-12-2012 10:36pm

Added how to run external scripts.

rom · 23-12-2012 12:44am

Added Training plan

hot to trot · 25-12-2012 4:08pm

pconn062 wrote: »

It's slightly disconcerting that I can't understand a word that's being said on this thread!

Ditto

meijin · 26-12-2012 2:06am

rom wrote: »

Added Training plan

Do you know that you can also create a sample spreadsheet, share it publicly, post a link and people would be able to make a copy of it and fill it with their data?

[but teaching them how to create their own spreadsheet might have some benefits as well

]

rom · 26-12-2012 10:23am

meijin wrote: »

Do you know that you can also create a sample spreadsheet, share it publicly, post a link and people would be able to make a copy of it and fill it with their data?

[but teaching them how to create their own spreadsheet might have some benefits as well ]

It is rather easy to understand now and how things work but when things get more complex maintenance is not possible if people do not know how it works. As some of the future things will be much more complex people can choose to what level of complexity and pick& choose what stats they are interested in regarding this method. Also I am hoping that with feedback people have other idea's that will suggest things that I can add to my own log also. Also just providing the finished spreadsheet will mean that there will be loads of questions how x,y,z works. Hopefully most of those should be answered and the time taken by the interested person as it is for their own benefit.

AK333 · 26-12-2012 11:39pm

Rom, I've set up my sheets and I apologise if this question is a bit 'thick' but are the 3 sheets (as per your example) all linked? So if I put information in the 2013 sheet, does it automatically update the Results sheet? As I'm typing this I think not, but as my expertise in spreadsheets, and running for that matter (I'm a noob) is limited, I just want clarification. thx

rom · 26-12-2012 11:53pm

AK333 wrote: »

Rom, I've set up my sheets and I apologise if this question is a bit 'thick' but are the 3 sheets (as per your example) all linked? So if I put information in the 2013 sheet, does it automatically update the Results sheet? As I'm typing this I think not, but as my expertise in spreadsheets, and running for that matter (I'm a noob) is limited, I just want clarification. thx

Nope none of the sheets are linked currently. But if you are adding details in from the first of jan say then all those details will be used going forward. In respect to the results sheet then you can add all your results and it will be fine. Its just a format for viewing results. It will become clearer when there is more stats but the basic logging page generates most of the stats.

rom · 31-12-2012 10:12pm

If you have any suggestions then I would appreciate it.
Ok so the current list of Future topics to add are:

Complex calculation of pace/distance for multisport with dropdown.
Weekly/Monthly/Yearly totals for distance and time
Shoe mileage
Weight/recovery
conditional formating.
publishing to the web.
hiding rows of older data
updating 1000 mile challenge automagically
graphs
updating google calendar with training plan and or training log.
tracking recovery

Brad768 · 01-01-2013 5:04pm

Being a cyclist, I found this very useful..many thanks. Can't wait to put it to good use this year

sconhome · 02-01-2013 11:27am

rom wrote: »

If you have any suggestions then I would appreciate it.
Ok so the current list of Future topics to add are:

Complex calculation of pace/distance for multisport with dropdown.
Weekly/Monthly/Yearly totals for distance and time
Shoe mileage
Weight/recovery
conditional formating.
publishing to the web.
hiding rows of older data
updating 1000 mile challenge automagically
graphs
updating google calendar with training plan and or training log.
tracking recovery

In fairness ROM this is trojan work you're doing. Having used your precursor workbook, I can highly recommend this to everyone to help track your training.

Also its a great way to get used to Google docs, much handier to be able to access from any computer too.

rom · 05-01-2013 2:31am

It's getting complicated. Monthly and everything else except multisport is not complex.

Weekly hours and mileage added and updating the 1000 mile challenge.

Brad768 · 05-01-2013 3:01am

Thanks so much for this, I feel so organised

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiDHifeClt4OdFNjbUJYUVEycUdOTGUtazBlVWZrRlE#gid=0

scheister · 07-01-2013 6:29pm

only got around to looking at it today and well done on putting it together. But i keep it simple enough just recording the basic time distance date per month and feeding it into a overall yearly page. But it depends on the user and what they are looking for out of it

Gavlor · 07-01-2013 11:12pm

rom wrote: »

I don't know if there would be any interest in this but I would be willing to give a little guide on how to make your own training log using google docs (of course). If there is some interest please respond on what you would like to be able to have in such a log. I would document in detail how to create your log, share it, generate graphs and more complex stuff like auto-update the 1000 mile challenge. It is a great tool to be able to compare and see your improvements or not visually and clearly. I would probably start with the most basic things for those who have never used google docs before and would give examples/screenshots of each step. Things like garmin connect are good but you don't have control if you want to put stuff in. There are then sites like fetch but full with ads and still is far from perfect.

great stuff... thats my friday (and possibly saturday & sunday) night taken care of!

rom · 08-01-2013 9:00pm

Monthly mileage added.

Next multi-sport/ shoe mileage (which is the same thing)

blockic · 08-01-2013 10:18pm

Cheers rom for putting the effort into this. Looks great.

How to make a training log

Comments